Westin Hotels Offers Guests Sounder Sleep Through Smart Tech

In Celebration of the Iconic Heavenly Bed and its Commitment to Sound Slumber, Westin Partners with Wellness Technology Leader to Introduce Sleep Sensor Wearable-Lending Program

Lark Technologies Founder Julia Hu Joins Westin Well-Being Council

STAMFORD, Conn. - November 3, 2014 - (BUSINESS WIRE) - In celebration of the 15th Anniversary of the Heavenly® Bed and the brand's commitment to a great night's sleep, Westin Hotels & Resorts today pulled the covers off the next stage of its year-long Well-Being Movement, announcing a partnership with Lark Technologies, a leader in the technology and wellness space, to create a new Sleep Sensor Wearable-Lending program. Beginning today and available through the month of November, guests at participating properties, including The Westin New York at Times Square, The Westin Singapore, The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi, The Westin Frankfurt, The Westin Cape Town, The Westin Sydney, The Westin Abu Dhabi and The Westin Palace Milan, are invited to try the Lark Up Sleep Monitor, Silent Alarm Clock and Personal Sleep Coach during their stay. This wearable technology was developed to help users achieve optimal sleep through sleep pattern tracking and virtual coaching and is the perfect complement to the brand's renowned Heavenly Bed. Westin also announced the newest member of the brand's Well-Being Council, Lark Technologies Founder Julia Hu, who will lend the expertise of the Lark Health Committee, a world-class group of health and behavior experts from Harvard and Stanford, on all things sleep to support the brand's Sleep Well pillar.

"As the Heavenly Bed celebrates a monumental anniversary, it's befitting that Westin is evolving its commitment to sleep by using technology to uncover the next discovery in sound slumber," said Brian Povinelli, Global Brand Leader of Westin Hotels & Resorts. "Partnering with Lark Technologies will allow Westin guests to achieve their best sleep through a series of personalized coaching tips rooted in science. This is a milestone and a great example of knowledge being power when it comes to promoting a foundational aspect of well-being: sleep."

Westin Partners with Lark to Perfect the Art of Sleeping on the Road

An industry innovator renowned for offering the best night's sleep on the road, at home and in the air, Westin is committed to being on the forefront of new technology and research to help guests sleep well and is building on this promise by partnering with Lark, a renowned software company dedicated to creating personalized products that help make people healthier and happier. Lark has "codified" their expertise in exercise, sleep, nutrition, stress and motivational science, into cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence Personal Health Coaches, which is the driving force behind the brand's Sleep Sensor Wearable-Lending program.

"Sleeping better, as a part of getting fitter and stressing less, has been a big focus of mine and the Lark Health Committee," says Julia Hu, Founder of Lark Technologies. "Our world-class Health Committee has been working closely with our product team to design our product experiences, and we are now excited to be a part of the Westin Sleep Well campaign, so that guests have the opportunity to start the day off right, happier and healthier."

Guests are invited to try the Lark Up Sleep Monitor, Silent Alarm Clock and Personal Sleep Coach, designed to help guests achieve optimal sleep:

Even Better Sleep: The Lark Up combines a scientific sleep monitor with an expert-based app, which has significantly improved 70% of users’ sleep within just one month

Tracking: Lark's scientific sleep monitor tracks millions of micro-movements during the night so users can review their sleep patterns in the morning and track improvement over time, tagging the factors that are affecting their sleep

Virtual Coaching: Guests can see advanced data visualizations of their sleep patterns and receive expert explanations of the problem areas, easily tracking their progress over time

The Westin Heavenly Bed and the Sleep Sensor Wearable-Lending program make a prefect pair to combat sleep deprivation and provide the rest needed for a productive day. Want to take your sleep coach home? The Lark Pro wearable is now available to U.S. consumers at westinstore.com so that guests can have 24/7 access to Lark's personalized and effective coaching techniques, also available on westin.com/lark.

Named "Best Health App for Apple," Lark just introduced a new application integrated with iOS 8 and Apple HealthKit that tracks users' exercise, sleep and nutrition, and coaches people using just their phone sensors. Westin guests can also continue their quest for health by downloading the new Lark app for free on the App Store.

Experience The Best Bed in the Business

Guests around the world continue to take a piece of heaven home with them after experiencing the Heavenly Bed during their travels. As the brand's footprint grows around the world, so does its retail success. Westin recently announced that the brand's signature Heavenly line has exceeded $135 million in retail sales. To date, Westin has sold over 100,000 Heavenly Beds and 175,000 Heavenly Pillows, with sales skyrocketing in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Westin is also seeing success in the skies, with the launch of its Heavenly In-Flight bedding last year. Designed and manufactured exclusively for Delta's BusinessElite® cabins throughout the world, over 4 million passengers have clocked more than 42 million hours in Westin's Heavenly In-Flight bedding, improving the sleep experience in over 130,000 BusinessElite flights.

Now, in celebration of the 15th Anniversary of the Westin Heavenly Bed, the brand is inviting consumers to enter for a chance to win a Heavenly Bed, a two-night stay at a Westin property and more from now through November 30, 2014. Visit westinstore.com/anniversarysweepstakes for more details.

For more information on Westin and the brand's Well-Being Movement, click here. For more information on Westin Hotels & Resorts, please visit westin.com, Facebook or follow Westin on Twitter and Instagram.

About Westin Hotels & Resorts

Westin Hotels & Resorts has been a leader in wellness and hospitality for more than a decade. Today, Westin has 200 hotels and resorts in nearly 40 countries and territories, and is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT), one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 1,200 properties in 100 countries and 181,400 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, Aloft®, and Element®. The Company boasts one of the industry's leading loyalty programs, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG®), allowing members to earn and redeem points for room stays, room upgrades and flights, with no blackout dates. Starwood also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., a premier provider of world-class vacation experiences through villa-style resorts and privileged access to Starwood brands. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.

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